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Buying a few apartment buildings was no small expense. Takumi clearly didn't have that kind of money on hand—but that was fine. He could just rely on someone else's. After all, the "rich lady" by his side had enough savings to let a normal person live in comfort for several lifetimes.
So he looked straight at Mio and said bluntly, "Mio, you probably have a decent amount saved up, right? I'm planning to buy an apartment building."
"An apartment building? Why?"
Mio tilted her head, genuinely puzzled. They were living just fine here, so she didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to buy another property.
Takumi waved it off casually. "Who knows when some devils or fallen angels might come knocking again? If this place gets wrecked, we'll have nowhere to stay. If we buy one now, we'll at least have a backup. And if we don't need it, we can rent it out and earn some extra income."
That reasoning instantly convinced her. Mio's trust in Takumi was practically absolute, and she nodded obediently. "Okay… then I'll leave it to you, Onii-chan."
Watching the two of them, Yuki gave a sly grin. "Onii-chan, it kinda sounds like you're… living off her~."
"'Kinda'!? What do you mean kinda!?"
"..."
Yuki was at a rare loss for words as she stared at the utterly shameless Takumi. Seeing her speechless, Takumi's mood improved considerably.
"I'm going to visit the neighbors. You girls behave while I'm gone."
"OK~ I'll help Mio-neesan set up her room," Yuki said cheerfully, flashing a peace sign before dragging Mio away. Maria followed behind them like a loyal little henchman.
The house Takumi had bought wasn't quite a mansion, but it was certainly high-end for the area. The neighboring house on the left was still empty, while the one on the right already had tenants.
He checked the time—not too late—but realized it'd be rude to go empty-handed.
On his way to the dessert shop, he also stopped to put up a few flyers. His newly opened Exorcism Agency didn't have much reputation yet, and most of his fame came from another city.
Even good wine fears a deep alley—if he didn't advertise, no one would come knocking.
"I should use that old author account too. A couple of posts won't hurt."
After sticking up the flyers, Takumi pulled out his phone and logged into an account he hadn't touched in years. The instant he did, his notifications exploded with 99+ unread messages.
Opening them, he saw nothing but lines of "Paying respects to the old thief."
Back when he'd been kicked out of the Hero Village, he'd only had the strength of a low-ranked fighter. His petty savings and the money he'd taken from local thugs hadn't lasted long, so he'd become a ghostwriter—publishing a few light novels that earned him his first real income.
He'd written intermittently for about a year or two before his life of wandering and exorcising spirits took over, and the account faded from memory.
"Hah… come to think of it, gathering followers does help increase my luck progress," he muttered. It wasn't as effective as killing protagonists or sleeping with heroines—but it worked.
Since he wasn't in a hurry to get stronger, returning to his old side hustle didn't sound so bad.
With that thought, he hastily sent two posts announcing his "resurrection," followed by an ad for his new exorcism agency.
Within seconds, the comment section exploded.
"???"
"No way—Dayuan-sensei resurrected after three years!?"
"You became an exorcist!? Should've stayed dead, bro."
"Wait, you're telling me you trained as an exorcist for three years just to scam people!?"
Unbothered, Takumi replied with a few firm messages:
[What do you mean resurrected? I never died!]
[I am an exorcist. Writing light novels was just a side job. If you've got free time, come visit my agency.]
[I'm a professional, not a scammer!]
He smirked. "Perfect. That's some top-tier marketing right there. Though… just to be safe, I should probably put up a protection barrier before some online lunatic tries to dox me."
Rubbing his hands together, he grinned with satisfaction—until a familiar name popped up in his messages.
His old illustrator, Eiri Kashiwagi, had sent him a single "?"
At that exact moment, Eriri—wearing a simple tracksuit—was sprawled across her bed, staring blankly at her phone. Yesterday had already been a shock, and she'd spent the whole day debating whether to call Takumi.
But before she could decide, Dayuan-sensei's account had suddenly come back to life.
And that "Exorcism Agency" in his bio? That was definitely his.
Eiri's heart skipped a beat as she sent the question mark.
She had no idea the author she'd worked for three years ago—the very first client of her professional career—was actually Takumi himself.
Then came his reply:
Dayuan: "Why the question mark, Eriri?"
Kashiwagi Eiri: "Wha—!? How!?"
Eiri bolted upright, eyes wide. She'd never met Dayuan-sensei in person. There was no reason Takumi should know it was her.
There was only one explanation. He'd just doxed her.
"You've got to be kidding me!" she muttered, face red with panic.
But before she could even type another word, a glowing blue magic circle appeared right in front of her.
In the next instant, Takumi stepped through the portal and landed neatly in her messy bedroom.
He looked around with a helpless sigh. "You should really clean up a bit, Eriri."
"Wha—!? You actually followed the internet cable here!?"
Eiri stumbled backward, nearly falling off the bed in shock.
Takumi shrugged casually. "I gave you a protective talisman, remember? I used it as an anchor point for teleportation. Simple as that."
Then he pointed at her phone screen, smirking. "So tell me, do you still think I doxed you?"
"Uuuh… n-no…" she stammered, her pale face turning crimson as she shook her head rapidly.
Takumi stepped closer and grabbed her twin tails, gently tugging her forward until she calmed down.
"There, no need to freak out. I've known it was you since three years ago."
Eiri blinked, dazed. "You… knew back then?"
Meeting his teasing gaze, her face went scarlet. She snatched up a pillow and hurled it at him—but he effortlessly caught her wrist, spun her around, and pushed her gently down onto the bed.
With a soft thud, Eiri lay sprawled across the sheets, her slender body outlined by the dim light. Her matte-black stockings shimmered faintly, accentuating her shapely legs.
Feeling his intense gaze on her, she flushed even deeper. "L-Let go of me, you jerk~~!"
Instead, Takumi released her just long enough to flip her over, pressing her lightly against the headboard.
Now trapped with nowhere to retreat, Eiri found herself face-to-face with him, their breaths mingling in the narrow space.
One hand rested beside her ear; the other, lifting her soft curves.
In that moment, time seemed to stop.
...
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